Nikolai Medtner, a brilliant piano student, graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in 1900 with a Gold Medal and won an honorable mention in the Anton Rubinstein Competition.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Medtner, a 'prickly musical reactionary,' believed in eternal, God-given laws of art, especially the immutable sovereignty of tonality and consonance, as expressed in his book The Muse and the Fashion.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in St George's, Brandon Hill, Bristol, on various dates in 1996, 1997, and 1998, with Marc-André Hamelin performing on a Steinway piano.
Compositional Technique
Medtner's 'Märchen' (German for 'tales'), a series of piano miniatures, are not mere fairy tales but explorations of personal experiences and inner conflicts, as noted by Boris Asafyev.
Historical Context
After the Russian Revolution, Medtner left Russia in 1921, settling first in Berlin and Paris, and later permanently in Britain in 1935, where he found the most responsive audiences.
Composer Biography
Medtner initially renounced a career as a concert pianist to dedicate himself to composition, despite having little formal training in it.
Composition History
The 'Forgotten Melodies' (Vergessene Weisen) were composed by Medtner at a friend's dacha in Bugry, Russia, between 1919 and 1920, using musical ideas he had jotted down in notebooks over the years.
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